Cummins announced in October that DaimlerChrysler would be the major customer for its new family of light-duty, clean diesel engines, which it plans to have rolling out of its Columbus, Indiana, engine plant no later than 2009. The new engines will have strong, light Compacted Graphite Iron (CGI) blocks, and are designed to power vehicles below 8500 lb gross-vehicle weight.

Neither DaimlerChrysler nor Cummins would comment on the configuration of the new family. However, they will use some of the technology developed during a nine-year partnership between Cummins and the Department of Energy to produce two new fuel-efficient diesel engines.

This program produced a 4.2L V6 and a 5.6 L V8 for 2009 that are capable of meeting EPA Tier II and CARB LEV II emissions standards. Dodge Trucks provided vehicle and installation-design assistance for the project, so the V8 was tested in a Ram. It developed 325 hp and 500 lbs-ft while returning 22.1mpg. The V6 had a Durango for its testbed and delivered 270 hp and 420 lb-ft with 22.1 mpg...

I stopped in to a local Jeep/Dodge dealership yesterday and asked about the likelyhood of the new Liberty getting a diesel... the salesman said that it was never going to happen because it won't fit in anything smaller than a 3/4 ton truck!

...after picking my jaw up off the ground, I figured it was pointless to keep talking to this guy so I just kept looking and stopped asking him anything harder than color combos.

The cummins 4.2 is going to be a large engine. Too heavu for the Jeep platform. Look for these to be in the half ton trucks, with the larger I6 in the 3/4 and Ton trucks. I do not doubt there will be a mercedez diesel under the hood but I highly doubt a cummins will make it's way into the smaller machines. Still, the mercedez is a venerable powerhouse and extremely reliable- I wouldn't hesitate to buy a new Freightliner with the Mercedez engine as well.

The cummins 4.2 is going to be a large engine. Too heavu for the Jeep platform. Look for these to be in the half ton trucks, with the larger I6 in the 3/4 and Ton trucks. I do not doubt there will be a mercedez diesel under the hood but I highly doubt a cummins will make it's way into the smaller machines. Still, the mercedez is a venerable powerhouse and extremely reliable- I wouldn't hesitate to buy a new Freightliner with the Mercedez engine as well.

Jason

Hate to disagree, Jason, but the 4.2 V6 is being developed for the Dodge Dakota platform and will fit quite nicely in a Grand Cherokee or a Liberty. The sibling 5.6 V8 is being developed for the Dodge Ram 1500 pickup. The larger I6 series engines will continue to be offered in the Ram 2500-and-larger trucks. I'm satisfied that all of the Cummins engines will be superior to Mercedes' offerings, if for no other reason than that they will not require ammonia/urea injection in order to meet the 2010 50-state emissions standards. (Besides which, they will be American-built engines!)

I was just reading about this on Rubicon Forum. It looks like the small 2.8, I-4 CRD turbo-diesels are pretty good. I read the specs on the German Jeeps with it:
163 hp @ 3800 rpm
290 lb-ft @ 1800 rpm
450 miles to a tank of fuel
6 spd manual or 5 spd auto.
Tows 7,700 lbs (but I think that was supposed to be combined veh & tow)

If that's all true (if they did the conversions correctly). I'm going to figure out how to get one.

2006 Rubicon UnlimitedWranglers lead the way. I mean, Rangers lead the way!

I was just reading about this on Rubicon Forum. It looks like the small 2.8, I-4 CRD turbo-diesels are pretty good. I read the specs on the German Jeeps with it:
163 hp @ 3800 rpm
290 lb-ft @ 1800 rpm
450 miles to a tank of fuel
6 spd manual or 5 spd auto.
Tows 7,700 lbs (but I think that was supposed to be combined veh & tow)

If that's all true (if they did the conversions correctly). I'm going to figure out how to get one.

The 2.8 CRD being offered for export models is the same VM Motori engine which was available in the '05-'06 Liberty. It can't meet the '07 emissions standards in the States. That's why it's no longer in the Liberty.

The 2.8 CRD being offered for export models is the same VM Motori engine which was available in the '05-'06 Liberty. It can't meet the '07 emissions standards in the States. That's why it's no longer in the Liberty.